


Transitions - A Marine history, A Pirate future

by qwaszxedc9



Category: One Piece
Genre: AU, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen, Sudden Plot Bunny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-05-12
Packaged: 2018-01-24 12:33:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1605323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwaszxedc9/pseuds/qwaszxedc9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if, when he was young, Usopp joined the marines? Although involuntary, how will this short time spent as a marine affect his future? How will he break off the chains of his marine history?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD
> 
> Sudden plot bunny came rushing by, so I thought I should snatch it from the tree and roast it. Then wait by the tree for more plot bunnies... And abondon my work... (Can anyone connect what "wise" saying I just referenced? XD)
> 
> I'm thankful to anyone who clicked the link and opened this. But I'm sorry that I won't be able to update often. After my exams are defeated, I shall go bullet-train. So no worries. :)
> 
> Accepting suggestions cause this was caused by a sudden plot bunny.
> 
> I obviously do not own One Piece. If I did. No one would watch it. Or read it. I settle for writing fanfiction. :)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (Originally posted on fanfiction.net)

Usopp. 9 years old. Syrup village.

The first time Usopp saw pirates after his mother's death was not a pleasant experience. Unpleasant was perhaps an understatement. Said first time seeing pirates also happened to clash with his first experience with marines. Both crews had landed on shore on the opposite ends of his island at the same time.

He had been elated at first, rushing there, thinking, believing and just hoping that it was his father's crew that had gallantly arrived so late. He was gravely mistakened. Another pirate crew, an unknown to him, was docked there, seemingly slowly and quietly readying their weapons for an attack, smiling and grinning from all the bloodshed being discussed.

He ran back to the village, spilling out his usual, now deadly true, lie that he himself had started hardly one year ago. The villagers had, understandably, ignored him, thinking that he would soon grow out of it, once the pain of his mother's death had passed.

Usopp was absolutely panicking, and had ran back into the forest and pulled a perfect Zoro, ending up at the opposite end of the island, where the marines had docked, resting and relaxing at the edge of the island they assumed deserted. Therefore, it came as a huge shock when a little long-nosed brat came running out of the forest screaming "PIRATES ARE COMING!".

He had frozen in front of the marines, eyes wide, jaw dropped. Usopp himself was surprised. Was he seeing things? Had he imagined those pirates, as depressed as he was? He stared ahead, at the white flag that he recognised for a marine symbol. Hadn't his Dad said that Marines were enemies? He sucked in a breath.

"MARINES ARE COMING!"

He turned around and dashed back into the sanctuary of the forest, straight for the town.

The marines were frozen, speechless, before some eventually regained their senses and dashed after the boy.

Somehow the world must have decided to shower upon them the blessings of Zoro dysfunctional directional systems, because Usopp ended up slamming straight into the pirates themselves, armed and ready to kill. Those cowards of grunt marines had hidden behind the trees, before abandoning him to get their commanding officer.

"P-pirates!" Usopp had squeaked. He didn't imagine it! But that meant that his whole village was in danger from both the pirates and the marines! The village! He sucked in another breath.

"PIRATES ARE COMING!"

Turning to run, he dashed off, leaving stunned pirates in his dust. Said stunned pirates yelled and chased after him. Usopp had tears running down both cheeks and his teeth were clenched.

Aren't marines the enemies of pirates?

At that thought he scampered straight for where the marines were, fully aware of the crazed pirate mob hot on his heels. Upon arrival, it had seemed that the marines themselves were already preparing for battle.

He cowered in between them, fidgeting and shaking wildly. The pirates seemed caught off guard with the presence of the marines. The marine captain stood directly in front of them. A moment passed. Both parties snatched out their firearms at the ready, pointed at their enemies.

Before anything could happen, there was a shivering, quivering, yet strong and loud voice that rang out between them.

"S-stay a-a-away f-from my village! I-i've got m-my.. my.. my 800 followers p-protecting it!"

He pulled out a sling-shot. It seemed ridiculous.

"M-my 800 followers and I w-will co-completely destroy you!"

He slowly backed away, where he could see both parties without turning his head. The marine captain's eyebrow rose. The pirate captain snorted.

"N-no one will hurt m-my village!"

He reached into his sling bag. He was panting slightly. They tensed up, firearms now slightly tilting towards his direction.

"N-no one!"

He held pachinko balls. They stared.

"N-not you pirates! Not you marines!"

He pulled the sling.

"NO ONE!"

A huge burst of sharp, sudden pain exploded in their fingers as all the firearms held by both leaders seemed to be thrown off as if it by the side were several pachinko balls, all fired within split seconds, all fired with precise precision, all targeted at the two leader's fingers, all on target.

All shot by the little long-nosed brat.

Usopp's knees gave way. His knees hit the ground, his body trembling and shaking. Tears were flowing down his face, rushing past a sad, defeated grimace. He just declared war on two crews of marines and pirates!

There was a deafening silence, tension so thick it could be cut with a knife. The marine captain smirked.

"Boy, if you do not want us to hurt your village, how about you join the marines? We will even rid you of these pesky pirates." He spoke, soft yet loud enough and with an air of authority. Usopp gulped.

"J-join the marines?" He was a pirate! A son of a pirate! A proud pirate! He couldn't join the marines! No way he would-

"Of course! Very simple, no?" He replied, smirking. The pirates growled.

"You think we are pesky? Let us watch you beg for forgiveness in your death!" The pirate captain was outraged. He ground his teeth together as he reached for the grounded firearms. The marine captain was faster. He dashed forward and slashed the pirate's neck in a swift flick of his unsheathed sword. The rest of grunts began fighting. Eventually the marines won.

Usopp was startled. There was no way he could beat such strong-

"You're joining the marines, right?" The captain asked, smiling gleefully, almost cunningly. Usopp jerked out of his trance.

"A-ah... N-no i don't want to... I-I'm a p-pirate-" Usopp started.

"If you do not, I might just decide to attack the village~" He added, smirking. Usopp's eyes widened.

"N-no! Don't t-touch my village! I have 800-"

"Yes, yes, 800 followers right? So where are they? If you're lying..." He let that drift. Usopp's face warped into a distortion of terror. The captain frowned.

"Hmm... Okay men! We will attack the village in-" Usopp's eyes widened further.

"N-NO! I-I will j-join the m-marines! Just don't attack my village!" Tears were escaping and trailing down his already tear-stained cheeks. The marine captain walked up to him, squatted down, and petted his head.

"Good boy. And from now on call me Captain Jonathan."

* * *

The marines had stayed for two weeks. It was found out that the rudder had broken, and had to be fixed before they could leave. Usopp's house had become a temporary headquarters for Captain Jonathan, who was surprised at the lack of a marine base on the island. It was explained that there was no need for one, as barely any pirates or marines came by.

Captain Jonathan had taken the liberty of introducing himself and his crew to the entire village, smiling and laughing as if he hadn't threatened to attack it a while ago. They were pretty accepting of the captain, and even happy for Usopp when Jonathan mentioned that he joined the marines.

Within the week, Captain Jonathan had evaluated all of Usopp's skills. To put it simply, he was considered an extremely talented sniper. That had Jonathan grinning to himself like a madman.

Usopp himself, however, was absolutely upset with this arrangement, even if he was too frightened to voice it out. He was forced to wear the stupid marine uniform, forced into routine marine training, forced to enter his particulars and shit into a file for recruits and had the Captain breathing down his back every second, as if suspecting that he would bolt off and escape the minute he lost sight of him.

...Not that he was wrong about that, or that there was anywhere to escape to at the moment. Usopp had spent nearly all his free time trying to figure out how to rid himself of the marine status and go back to being a pirate, but in vain.

Being a pirate and a pirate's son was the pride of his life – the main essence and joy of his life. One day he would (perhaps) join his father, or (maybe) become captain of his own 800 men. He would become a brave warrior of the sea, a pirate, just like his father before him.

He could not be a marine. He was a pirate!

Another week passed and the marine ship was fixed. Captain Jonathan immediately made plans to leave. Usopp was devastated. He couldn't get out of it. He was stuck. That was almost as good as death!

Wait, wait... What if he faked his death? Then the marines wouldn't come after him anymore! The desperate gears in his mind were turning, and he came up with a plan.

A stupid, very high chance of failing, and absolutely barely revised plan:

Jump into the sea. Swim back to shore.

A stupid plan.

But the only plan.

He sneaked into the kitchen in the ship, took a whole bunch of straws from the cabinet and disappeared into the storage room. Using his superior and refined skills, he connected the straws together, by simply folding and slotting. He then hurriedly smeared some rubber elastic substance to coat the long length of straws, to water-proof it.

The ship had already left the shore of the Syrup village. Usopp's heart was beating wildly. He peeked out of the slightly ajar storage room door.

BOOM!

"It's the sea king!"

"Kill it before it breaks the ship again!"

Perfect timing. Usopp grinned to himself. That might have looked badass or intimidating, if it weren't for the fact that his arms were shaking, his legs were trembling, his body was shivering, his eyes were leaking rivers of tears and he was sweating buckets. Other than his smile, he was the entire definition of 'freaking frightened like shit'.

He crawled onto deck, spying as all the marines headed toward the front of the ship. He scampered toward the now deserted rear, carrying his super-long-breathe-underwater-straw, as he decided to name it, and leaned over the railing. He gulped, still running rivers of tears. The waves were slamming furiously onto the ship, very rapidly, very violently, almost making him rethink his escape plan.

He steeled himself, knowing that if he didn't do it quick he would lose courage, and if he did he would never be able to forgive himself. Sitting on the railing edge, he shakily popped the end of the straw into his mouth. Leaning over slightly, he was gripped with sudden hesitation, fear filling his entire being. His legs trembled further and he found himself paralysed. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea-

Perhaps it was fate that helped him along, or just simple carelessness, but his grip slipped on the wet railing, causing him to lose his balance and skid off, tumbling over and plunging headfirst into the deep, cold water.

* * *

Usopp POV Special. Thoughts at the moment:

OMG OMG OMG OMG Freezing! So cold! OMG OMG OMG COLD OMG OMG OMG COLD OMG OMG OMG OMG COLD OMG FREEZING OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG AIR! OMG AIR!AIR! SWEET AIR! DEEP BREATH. OMG OMG DEEP BREATH. Breathe OMG OMG OMG breathe OMG OMG OMG OMG breathe OMG OMG OMG breathe OMG OMG OMG OMG breathe OMG OMG OMG breathe OMG OMG OMG OMG Oh the sea king. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG Where? OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG Where? OMG OMG OMG Where? OMG OMG OMG Ah Syrup village! OMG OMG OMG OMG breathe OMG OMG OMG The super-long-breathe-underwater-straw! OMG OMG Deep Breath... OMG OMG OMG OMG Swim OMG OMG OMG Swim OMG OMG OMG Swim OMG OMG OMG OMG Swim OMG OMG OMG OMG Swim OMG OMG OMG

* * *

Back to the story:

He had panicked for a while – ONLY a while –, frailing his arms around the electrifying, ice-cold underwater, nearly letting go of his super-long-breathe-underwater-straw. His head finally surfaced, and he calmed himself slightly. Only slightly.

He scanned his surrounding – while panicking –, and spotted his island. Not too far away, he should be able to swim there. Still panicking wildly in his head, he dived back into the water, other end of the straw above the water as he continued swimming.

It seemed like forever, but he made it. He reached land. Oh sweet loving sand! Ridding himself of the marine status? Check. That would have soiled his name as the son of a pirate and a pirate himself. The whole jumping off the ship and swimming back to shore thing was crazy. Too crazy. He promised himself to never do that again, and (maybe) stay on his island forever. He was still shaking badly from his great escape. Hopefully Captain Jonathan wouldn't come looking for him and just think he was dead.

Still trembling wildly, from both the adrenaline and the cold, he stood up and raced toward his village.

Time to re-announce his presence.

"PIRATES ARE COMING!"

He hoped that he would never ever have to see that Jonathan guy again. EVER. Still the adventure was (only) a little exciting. The legendary escape from the thousand marine ships! Maybe next time. With more courage. For now he will protect his village. With his 800 followers. Or 80,000 followers. Or 80 million! Yes, who wouldn't follow the great Captain Usopp-sama?

Still, he thought he would never have to see that Captain again, and after a couple of years, he strongly believed it.

Throughout his time in the village, he only used his vast number of followers ranging from 800 to 80 million (lie) twice.

Once was when a single pirate landed on the island. After hearing about the 80,000 followers, he immediately fled, without even checking. Usopp himself bellowed heartily in the face of the fleeing pirate, fists clenched into his sides, knees trembling heavily behind the bushes, his 80,000 men's three heads peeping over the bushes.

The second time was when three strange pirates landed on shore. Later found to be Monkey D Luffy, Roronoa Zoro and Nami. The first of the crew he would join to the seas.

The first of the crew he would grow to love.

He thought he had destroyed his past as a marine, however short.

He thought he would never need to worry about his time as a marine, albeit involuntary.

He was wrong.

These things come back to bite.

His friends, nakama, all those he loved.

...

These things come back to bite after all.

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if, when he was young, Usopp joined the marines? Although involuntary, how will this short time spent as a marine affect his future? How will he break off the chains of his marine history?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD
> 
> Sorry for taking such a long time with this! I didn't actually expect much feedback on this cause it was just a plot bunny, but suddenly I had a bunch of followers! Thank you so much! After overcoming my demonic examinations, then my writer's block, I finally got the next chapter out!
> 
> Enjoy! XD
> 
> (Originally posted on fanfiction.net)

Usopp. 17 years old. Navarone.

That octopus was impressive.

Until it failed.

And sort of let them crash into a marine base. The glaring lights forced them to abandon ship.

* * *

Usopp bent down and picked up his fallen goggles. Frowning, he fitted those goggles over his head, staring at the gigantic fortress of doom. The marine base, just behind in the background of his Going Merry. His precious ship is being overrun by countless marine soldiers, like locusts!

Why? Why must it be a Marine base? He blamed it on Luffy's trouble magnet. Why couldn't they have landed on a peaceful, serene island with lots of flowers and grass? Wait, that's heaven.

He sighed.

"Damn, we can't get to Merry with those guys everywhere." He lamented, turning slightly to Robin next to him.

Eyes closed, Robin crossed her arms in her usual elegant battle stance. Moments passed, and she looked up. A gracious smile curled across her face.

"It seems that the Marines think that Merry is a ghost ship." Robin laughed lightly. Usopp was outraged. Going Merry, a ghost ship?! That's a huge insult to his magnificent vessel! He stomped his front foot, swinging his arm forward to jab in those insulting Marines in his most gallant fashion.

"I'll shoot them down!-" He yelled, before arms sprouted from behind him and slammed over his mouth. His eyes widened and his fingers rushed to grasp onto the hands over his mouth.

"But, that makes things safer for us, and for Merry." She reasoned, frowning her features into a delicate curve above her eyes. Usopp was struggling.

"It'll buy us some time." She continued, keeping her arms pinned over the mouth of the sniper. His hands tried to pull Robin's off of him, in vain. His legs swung around panicked. CAN'T BREATHE. Robin's lips curled up, before her hands disappeared into a burst of petals.

Usopp breathed deeply.

"Now that that's settled..." She trailed off, re-crossing her arms and shutting her eyes. She smiled gently.

"H-HANDS!" A couple of screeches should be heard and Usopp could pretty much guess who caused it.

* * *

Crawl. Crawl. Creak. Crack! Tumble! Pause... Crawl. Crawl.. Crawl crawl crawl-

"Longnose-kun?" Robin smiled, strolling up beside him, amused at the sight of Usopp crawling along the ground when there was obviously no difference between crawling and walking. The entire path was completely flat and wide.

"R-Robin! We're trying to be sneaky! Get down before someone sees you!" Usopp whispered loudly, hurriedly, glancing around for any marines that might spot them in all their sneaky glory.

"I believe, Longnose-kun, that crawling would actually stand out more than walking along this flat path." She laughed lightly, watching Usopp attempt to further disappear from sight by sinking himself lower towards the ground, butt wriggling in the air.

"Did you know I used to be the called the sneakiest ninja back on my island? They called me Usopp the great nin-" Usopp's hand rested on a tiny rock, before that tiny rock slipped from under his grasp and he slammed headfirst into the ground.

Robin smiled lightly, amusement leaking into her facial expressions. The base back entrance was already in sights.

Usopp sprinted on all fours, almost like a lizard, towards the first sizable rock in sight. His hands gingerly reached over the rock, eyes slowly peeping over to scan for any marines. Robin moved forward, smiling lightly as they both ducked when a marine marched by. She watched the marine march off, as Usopp gingerly peeped over the rock for any more marines.

"For now, we need to obtain information that will help us escape." Robin calmly stated, Usopp lifting his head further until his nose stuck above the rock. The marine base was huge! There were marines crawling all over the place! How were they going to escape? Ahhh! They're going to die!... His mind was crying metaphorical tears.

Robin smiled.

"Let's stick our noses in together, Longnose-kun." She added with amusement, sending shivers down Usopp's spine. His face ran pale and he gulped, sweat-drop running down his forehead.

"I don't wanna stick my nose anywhere..." Usopp gulped, slowly ducking back behind the safety of his rock.

"For now, we should relocate." Robin stated, standing up straight in full view of any passing marines, then turning and walking back toward the forested areas. Usopp's eyes widened as he flailed his arms around wildly behind the so-called safety of his rock.

"Robin! Get down! They're marines around!" He yelled, pushing his body as low as possible toward the ground, behind the rock, arms still flailing. Robin glanced behind, pausing.

"If there were any, your shouting would have called them over." She smiled, then turned back and continued walking, arms swinging elegantly beside her.

"W-wait for me!" Usopp gasped, crawling after her in all his sneaky glory.

* * *

The sun had already risen, and they still haven't got back their ship! It's a disaster! Usopp held on tightly to the stick of his ninja-bush, the bush itself vibrating from his hands' shaking.

Shuffle shuffle shuffle. Peek- Duck. Shuffle shuffle- Peek-

It was working well; no one has spotted him yet, behind his ninja-bush, not even Robin, he was sure. He peeked over his ninja-bush, ducked yet again, before shooting over beside Robin, sneakily, like a ninja, soundless, SOUNDLESS.

He peeked over his ninja-bush yet again.

"The 8th division of Marine headquarters…" Usopp mumbled, staring at the super huge base, behind the safety of him ninja-bush.

"This is Navarone, an officially established base." Robin started, looking through binoculars. Usopp continued staring.

"An impregnable fortress, and the marines' most powerful stronghold," she continued, frowning very slightly. Usopp gulped.

"The command centre is most likely in the central tower, but that's all we know." she finished, still looking through her binoculars – where did she get that from? – as Usopp began sweating.

"We don't need to know any of that!" he whisper-shouted, slightly panicky. "You don't stop at ancient ruins; you even research strongholds, Robin?"

"Naturally. We're in enemy territory." Robin replied, with a certain elegant confidence only she could pull off, complete with calm grimness. Usopp felt a small shiver down his spine at that scary calmness, before jerking his slightly-frozen-by-fear body in her direction.

"T-that's exactly why we shouldn't be sitting here looking at things!" he screeched in hushed tones, then turned back to watch the base again.

"I just want to know if Going Merry is okay!" the sniper grumbled, drops of tears forming in his eyes.

"Where have you gone, Merry?!" Usopp wanted to shout, but could only whisper in a high pitch.

"It's a wonder what the military does with seized vessels." Robin stated, sounding nearly indifferent. Usopp clenched his fist and swung it in front of himself.

"Yeah! And you don't seem to care one lick about it!" Usopp said accusingly at Robin, turning to face her. She turned to face him, eyes slightly narrowed.

"Even if we did find the ship, how would we escape? Do you think the marines would just politely show us the way out?" Robin asked, slight hints of what might just be frustration in her tone. Usopp shrunk back a little at her reasoning, which was pretty logical.

"W-well…" Usopp started, then Robin smiled, causing him shrink away further from that smile, eyes shifty.

"That's why we must look before we leap." She explained, elegant smile still plastered across her face. The sniper shrunk back slightly, before accessing his hidden – very well hidden – tiny storage of courage, frowning, and clenching his teeth tightly.

He shot up to a standing position, clenched his fists (somewhat) firmly and screeched, "You can't be a pirate if you're scared of a few marines-!" His heroic speech was interrupted by Robin throwing his binoculars at him, using an extra hand she bloomed. The sniper froze, hands raised in surrender, before bending down slowly.

"I'm done here." he said, eyes (uselessly) scanning the area. "I'll let you do the looking." He stood up (noisily), and shot toward the bushes.

Once safely hidden in the bushes, he ran along the safe line of bushes, soundlessly (noisily), quietly (noisily) and sneakily (noisily), before an unseen hand sprouted out from the ground and grabbed his ankle, causing him to give off a girly shriek and fall headfirst into the ground with a (not so) subtle bang, waving his arms wildly. He shot up immediately.

"Robin! What the hell are you-" he began, but was thwarted from his accusation when a couple of slim arms bloomed from the tree behind him, grabbed him from behind, covered his mouth before dragging him backwards, shifting him out of the line of sight and pinning him to the tree. He struggled, eyes extremely wide and breathing (as usual) deep, trying to see what was happening

Suddenly, a couple of marines popped up from in front of the bushes, like those wack-a-mole games, which he was usually champion at.

"Have you found them?" higher-ranked-marine-A asked.

"No, Sir! Not one!" marine-grunt-trio replied, saluting. Usopp blinked.

"The straw hats must be hiding somewhere in this vicinity. Find them immediately!" higher-ranked-marine-A ordered loudly, arm pointing in some other directly to direct marine-grunt-trio, who followed immediately in the pointed direction with a "Yes, Sir!".

Higher-ranked-marine-A snorted.

"They won't escape. Roronoa Zoro has already been captured." He said, feelings of achievement within his voice as he walked away.

Usopp was trying his best to breathe through layers of hands. No air! NO AIR! Robin finally released him. He gasped from a few seconds.

"Z-Zoro?!" he gasped through his air-deprived lungs, watching the marine disappear.

"Are you okay, Longnose-kun?" Robin asked, leaning against the tree. Usopp turned around.

"Did you hear that?!" he asked, just to confirm that his ears weren't playing tricks on him. He's had to do that a lot since he joined the Straw Hat crew, with Luffy and all his 'adventures'.

"It appears that they've realized that it isn't a ghost ship and in fact belongs to the Straw Hat pirates." Robin analysed, arms crossed. "The enemy is in a frenzy. We should probably worry more about ourselves than the ship."

Usopp ran up beside her, fist clenched in front of himself yet again, knees feeling slightly wobbly. "T-that's what they want, isn't it?" he says, before moving to stand directly in front of her.

"Now, sorry, but that ship is more precious to me than my life!" he exclaimed, clenched fist patting his chest.

"Yosh! I've decided! I'm going!" he shouted, pointing a finger at Robin, before yelling out, "Don't try to stop me! See you!" and running off in the direction of the base.

Robin remained still with her arms crossed, silently watching Usopp disappear.

"So impatient."

* * *

"We are facing the Straw Hat pirates!" higher-ranked-marine-B yelled out. Usopp hid behind a huge stack of boxes, trying (and failing) to calm his beathing.

"Be prepared to engage them at a moment's notice! We are staking the pride of Navarone on taking their heads!"

"Yes, Sir!" the squad of marines yelled back. The sniper peeked over the boxes and whimpered, sweating everywhere. He hunched lower, making himself as inconspicuous as possible, arms raised to attack and defend at any moment.

"T-these marines are really fired up!" he squeaked, moving backwards without any idea where. "I-I'm not gonna last long around here!"

He backed into a curtain of clothing on a clothesline.

"Is there anything I can do about these clothes I'm wearing?" he continued rambling to himself, before his eyes widened.

He was surrounded by clothing on the lines. "Heheh…"

_Wosh~!_

"Yosh! Change complete!" he exclaimed while walking out of the clothing curtains, straight into other marines. "Now I'll be able to-"

"Wait!" snapped random-marine-walking-by.

"Hiiiii-!" Usopp squeaked, face turning a pale, pale colour as his mouth hung open comically. Random-marine-walking-by walked up to him, and paused behind him, eyes narrowing at him. The sniper breathed heavily, squeezing his eyes shut.  _It all over... I'm caught... It's all over..._

"As a Nararone Marine, you will follow the Navarone dress code and keep your collar straight." Random-marine-walking-by stated as he adjusted Usopp's collar for him.

"Ehh…" Usopp replied intelligently.  _It's not over...?_

"We always have to remind you new recruits." Random-marine-walking-by sighed, done with the adjustment. Usopp whirled around immediately.

"Yes, Sir! I will keep that in mind!" He saluted him (somewhat) smartly, before lowering his arm and asking politely, "By the way, there was something I wanted to ask…"

"Do you know how to get to the dock where the Straw Hats' ship is being held?" he finished, looking at random-marine-walking-by with curious, hopefully innocent and not panicky, eyes. Random-marine-walking-by pointed in a certain direction.

"It's on the lower level, six blocks down."

Usopp saluted again. "Sir, thank you very much!" he said, then turned immediately, "If you'll excuse me!"

"Oi! But that dock is-" random-marine-walking-by frowned.

"Don't worry! I'll find it myself!" the sniper shouted back, focused on running towards (and finding) Going Merry.

* * *

"Merry~!" Usopp almost cooed, spreading his arms apart as if going to hug his beloved ship.

"You're safe! I'm so happy!" he said with happy tears in his eyes.

"A caravel model." And Usopp stopped his cooing, frozen.

"Lateen sails at the aft, and an axial stern rudder." The new voice continued, growing louder and accompanied by footsteps sounding from behind him. "It may be an old model, but it's a sturdy ship."

Usopp finally turned around. "Who are you?"

Behind him was a white-haired, wrinkled old man in an orange jumpsuit. "You don't know me? You must be a new recruit."

"S-something like that…" the sniper replied, moving away slightly to give the old man some room to move.

"This baby must have seen quite a lot of action." The old man continued talking, and Usopp turned to face his ship. "It's been badly damaged, but the repairs are holding firm."

"The ship is happy to be loved so much."

"Can you really tell that?" Usopp gasped, turning to face the old man. Just with one glance he could tell that Merry was loved!

"Marine ships and pirate ships are the same to me. I can tell things like that with one look." He said, arms folded, before unfolding to lift a bottle of sake and drink it down.

"That's great to hear!" Usopp nearly squealed, bringing both arms close to himself and smiling widely.

"Thanks a bunch!" he turned to the old man and grinned at him, causing said old man to pull down his sake and turn to him.

"You dumbass! I wasn't complimenting you!" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Still, I liked the sound of it." Usopp, grinned, placing both fists at his waist and puffing his chest out.

"You're pretty cheeky for a marine…" the old man deadpanned.

"So you still want to treat marine ships and pirate ships the same way." Another voice from behind said, causing both men to startle and widen their eyes, before turning toward the source of the voice. Usopp blinked.

"Lieutenant Drake, if you're here about the ship repairs, they'll take at least a week." The old man spoke first, causing Usopp to glance between both of them – the old man and the Lieutenant who had a whole bunch of soldiers behind him – , and creep backwards a few steps.

"It seems like Marines these days think it's their duty to damage their ships." The old man added, grinning at the Lieutenant. "The whole dock crew is working around the clock."

Usopp continued sneaking, as sneakily as possibly, away.

"Don't worry. I'm not here to bother a veteran mechanic." The Lieutenant said, eyes following the person trying to sneak away. "I'm here to talk to him."

"Hey, you there!" the same Lieutenant shouted, causing Usopp to nearly jump up a few feet.

"Yes, Sir!" He squeaked in reply, frozen to the spot, sweating like crazy.

"What's your attachment?" he asked, giving no heed, or perhaps not noticing, the loud chattering of teeth. Usopp found his voice stuck in his throat.

"A-a-attac-" the sniper tried to reply, which was difficult to do through uncontrolled chattering of teeth.

"You don't even know your own unit?" the lieutenant deadpanned, staring at him. Usopp sweated even more, eyes sweeping left and right, face paling.

"Er… I think… t-think it was… erm… Unit 18…" Usopp tried to think, maybe scratching his head might help, but his mind was wiped clean by panic.

"Unit 18 is the sniper unit, I believe." The lieutenant interrupted, probably tired of his rambling. "Were you not aware that this block was off-limits to everyone except maintenance personnel?"

"Oh, yes… Of course." Usopp hurriedly replied, then started his attempt to leave once again. "I'll just be getting back to my sniper unit…"

He took a few steps.

"That will not be necessary!"

"It won't!?" Usopp squeaked, whirling around.

"Arrest him."

The self-proclaimed Captain Usopp-sama, greatest and sneakiest ninja, was immediately surrounded by four marines pointing their sharp, pointy swords at his throat, in all four directions. The lieutenant smirked.

"Unit 18 isn't the sniper unit – it's the supply unit."

Usopp gulped.

"Take him to the command centre."

* * *

"Ah, this man?"

"Commander, the suspect claims to be a marine." Usopp was being held by four marines, and the door was blocked by a squad more. He was screwed!

"However, I believe there is sufficient evidence to suspect that he is one of the Straw Hat pirates." The Lieutenant continued, glancing at the sniper being held down.

"Hmm…"

The commander took a few steps toward Usopp, stopping directly in front of him to address him. "You there."

"Y-y-yes?" the sniper squeaked, face turning a deadly pale purple.

"Your name?"

No answer.

"Your name?" The commander repeated, squinting at him.

"C-c-classified..."

"Your attachment?"

"C-classified...?"

"Why did you go to the dock where the pirate ship was impounded?"

"C-classified."

"Classified, eh?" the commander sighed skeptically before moving away. Usopp almost heaved a sigh of relief.

"Let me lock him up in the penitentiary!" The Lieutenant said, fist clenched in front of himself.

"Hold on, Lieutenant Drake." The commander said, placing an arm behind the Lieutenant's back to steer him away from the suspect. "Come to think of it, the Stan Malay docked here this morning with a special inspector from Marine headquarters on board…"

Usopp's eyes widened. A special inspector?

"If he is an inspector, then to conduct an inspection safely, he would not divulge his name or his attachment." The commander continued, still facing away from their suspect. Usopp glanced up slightly, clenching his teeth, then breathed in deeply.

"What are you talking about? This guy can't possibly-" Soft laughter sounded from their suspect. The suspect himself was trying his best not to sweat too much. Or panic.

"I'm impressed that you saw through it." The liar started, "I applaud you, commander, you are correct."

"I am the special inspector from Marine headquarters," He lifted his head, and grinned, "Captain Usopp!"

The Lieutenant's jaw dropped, and he stood gaping.

"Usopp…?" The commander raised an eyebrow.

"Is the 8th Division hiding anything?" Usopp continued, placing his hand just above his eyes as if to scan the entire area of visibly panicking troops. "Are you taking good care of the cannons? Is the morale of the troops high?"

He crossed his arms smugly. "I've been investigating internal affairs incognito!" He looked up, and smirked. "There you have it!"

As he tugged down on his cap in a cool fashion, the rest of the troops in the room saluted. "We apologize, Captain!"

Lieutenant Drake looked disgusted. "This is ridiculous. A special inspector from headquarters holds more authority then a division commander…"

He pointed at Usopp. "Someone like you couldn't possibly be one!"

"Like me?" Usopp didn't glance up. "Someone like me?"

He opened one eye, and smirked. "What do you think you're saying,  _Drake_? Have you forgotten that you're a lieutenant?"

_Ok… Ok... Everything's going fine now…_

"What?" Lieutenant Drake gasped, and took a step back.

"Insulting a superior officer can land you a court martial." Usopp took a few steps forward, and placed a hand on Lieutenant Drake's shoulders.

"What do you think? Next meal in a marine prison?" The sniper swung his arm over the Lieutenant's shoulders and patted his cheek, grinning at him.

"We're very sorry for the mix-up, Captain… Usopp? Was it?" The commander smiled. "I was going to send someone to meet you, but things here have been a little behind schedule."

The red-haired commander smiled widely. "Please forgive this oversight."

"No, no, no, I'm glad you understand!" Usopp said, grinning widely.  _Yosh! Now to escape and get Merry back-_

The door opened, and a Marine stepped in, saluting.

"Commander, the special inspector from Marine headquarters, Commander Shepherd, has arrived."

"THE REAL ONE"S HERE?!" Usopp squeaked.

"I knew it!" The Lieutenant growled, swinging an arm around the little liar to trap him. Usopp sank into his metaphoric colud of depression, internally tearing up.

"You little bastard, did you think you'll get away with it?"

In the background there were many cracks of knuckles from the troops.

"S-sorry…" Usopp mumbled, hand covering his eyes.

"What's wrong? Where's your previous arrogant attitude?" Lieutenant growled, furious about being made a fool of. "You will send who to prison?"

"S-sorry…"

"Did you think you can just apologise?!"

"I-I'm sorry…"

Then he peeked out from under his fingers. And saw Robin.

"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Commander Jonathan." She smiled.

_Robin?_

Whatever the Lieutenant was shouting at him was currently being tuned out.

 _I see, Robin's in disguise too._ He smiled at that.  _Yosh…_

"Yo, Commander! Fancy meeting you at Navarone!" he was panicking just a little, only a little. Everyone turned to face him.

"It's me, Captain Usopp from your inspection detail!" He waved to Robin, then shakily pointed at himself. "Did you forget about me during your trip?"

The commander turned toward her. "Commander Shepherd, do you know the Captain?"

Robin smiled.

"I've never seen this man before in my life." She said smoothly.

"AHH!" Usopp squeaked, face rapidly turning pale, again.

"I knew it!" The Lieutenant shouted triumphantly, dragging him off.

"B-but, I…!" Usopp squeaked, struggling in their soldier's grips, flailing his legs wildly, sweating buckets.

"Lock him up!" Lieutenant Drake ordered, waving his arms in a flourish. The commander waved at his Lieutenant.

"Wait, wait, Lieutenant Drake, Take him to interrogation room 1." he smirked.

The Lieutenant blinked, then saluted. "Yes, Sir!"

* * *

Usopp was crying metaphoric tears, half of him cursing Robin for abandoning him, the other half hopping around like the floor was of red-hot coal, mainly panicking.

The Marines dragged him into a room with two chairs, a table and a lamp – pretty much the cliché interrogation room. Then they dumped him onto the chair further from the door, and handcuffed him in.

"Have fun, Special inspector Captain Usopp." One-of-the-marines-he-tricked taunted, waving as he left.

Usopp looked around him, tugged on his handcuffs, which were firm, then sank into his chair, sighing.

_Man, everything was going so well… Why didn't Robin acknowledge me? Damn it!_

They didn't strip him of his weapons, which was surprising. They didn't even search him. Just threw him onto the chair and handcuffed him. Were they that confident?

_Is Zoro somewhere here? They said I was in interrogation room 1, so are there other rooms? I thought I would be locked up in a cell or something._

Were they going to interrogate him? Because the Great Captain Usopp-sama will never betray his friends! No matter what sorts of dastardly torture or evil methods used! And even if they asked how they got here, their answer would be: they fell out of the sky, and landed here. He didn't think that was the answer they wanted.

The door creaked open, and Usopp shot up straight. The commander entered, closed the door, then sat down on the other chair.

So there were only two of them: the great Captain Usopp-sama and the Commander of Navarone. Alone in the interrogation room.

The commander was staring at him. Usopp started sweating.

The commander placed his elbows onto the table, folded his fingers and rested his chin on his fingers.

And continued staring at Usopp. The greatest and sneakiest ninja started sweating buckets.

Then he stood up suddenly, causing Usopp to flinch in all his sweaty glory, and reached forward, adjusted the lamp, then sat back down, and folded his fingers again.

And continued to stare.

"Oi! Say something damn it!" Usopp screeched, the staring was getting bother-line creepy. It reminded him of that old man at the entrance of the Grandline. Both equally creepy.

The commander stared at him, then deadpanned, "Something."

He would have face-palmed if he didn't have handcuffs. Though he did give a – seriously? – kind of look.

"T-that's obviously not what I meant!" he screeched, jiggling the handcuffs a little. The commander raised his hands up in a pacifying motion, grinning.

"Don't worry, I know what you meant. Your name is… Usopp, right?" he asked, grinning slightly. Usopp blinked, before puffing his chest out.

"I'm the GREAT Captain Usopp-sama! It would do you good to remember me." The liar said smugly, grinning in all his sweaty glory.

"I see… Usopp… Was it? You live in Syrup Village right? Located at Gecko Islands?" The commander asked, eyes now narrowed and shadowed, hands folded again.

The sniper blinked, then nodded slightly. The Navarone commander then smiled gleefully, almost cunningly-

Usopp gasped.

"Well then, I think introductions are in order. I am the Commander of Navarone G-8 Division, Vice-Admiral Jonathan. Or… Captain Jonathan, as I was eight years ago."

* * *

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